The Earth Institute at Columbia University

The Morro do Diabo State Park is located in the western part of the State of São Paulo, in a region known as the Pontal do Paranapanema. The Pontal has hosted serious conflicts over land ownership, especially during the last 50 years. From a protected area created in 1941 with 260 thousand hectares, only the Morro do Diabo remains with 34 thousand hectares. The park represents today the last significant remnant of Atlantic forest of the interior in São Paulo, pertaining a region with only 1.8% of natural coverage left. Despite this shrinking condition of the original forests, the region's conservation importance is unquestionable, as it holds a very rich biodiversity with endangered and endemic species. Therefore, the need for conservation action has been eminent and the focus of IP — Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas (Institute for Ecological Research) — for the past 15 years.

This nongovernmental organization's conservation efforts have included flora and fauna research, environmental education, regeneration of habitat, policies, and in the last five years, a special focus on the agrarian reform movement that has encouraged a striking migration to the region. Many settlements have surrounded the park, as well as some regional forest fragments, so the integration of these families in conservation has become a priority. Agroforestry workshops, nurseries, and plantations are giving local people opportunities to improve their properties and to create forest corridors and buffer zones. This has shown a twofold benefit: the overall regional landscape is enriched and better protected from edge effects, and planting native together with fast growing trees has represented an alternative to develop properties sustainably.

The Morro do Diabo Case Study (MDCS) will examine the process of mixing ecological research with conservation actions that have lead to the inclusion of social, economic, and institutional aspects and to the collaboration of many segments of local communities. Special approaches have been developed or adopted to encourage participation: local people have been empowered through different strategies and stakeholders encouraged to make decisions that include the different interests. These processes will be examined for a better understanding of what has occurred in the region and, we hope, will bring new light to what needs to be done for improvements in the future.

Multi-Stakeholder Workshops

An intensive two-day multi-stakeholder workshop entitled "Econegotiation: a Pontal good for everyone" was held in the Pontal region on March 8th and 9th , 2001.Participants were be drawn from all segments of local society, park employees, ranchers, leading environmental scientists, planning experts, and representatives of environmental organizations as well as government agencies. Issues addressed in working sessions included:

The current state of scientific understanding of the regions biodiversity and threats, especially if fragmentation is not treated adequately;
The economic benefits accruing to environmental enrichment through the planting of forests, in particular the maintenance of watersheds, soil improvement, open spaces, and functioning ecosystems;
The social and economic benefits that agroforestry may represent, especially if integrated with other subsistence cultures;
The institutional arrangements that may encourage the protection of forest fragments;
The possibilities treating the regional landscape as one, allowing for increasing settlements while at the same time minimizing both fragmentation and edge effects, as well as social and economic stress on existing rural communities.

Collaborators and Institutional Affiliates

The MDCS will be conducted by Suzana and Claudio Padua of the IPE.

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